Cold hardiness & minimum temperature

Is Anthurium (Anthurium andraeanum)cold hardy? Hardiness zone & min temp

Also called flamingo flower, painter’s palette, laceleaf.

About Anthurium

Anthurium andraeanum · also called flamingo flower, painter’s palette · flowering

Anthurium is a tropical aroid from Central and South America grown for its glossy heart-shaped spathes in red, pink, white, or purple. With bright indirect light and consistent care it flowers nearly continuously. Toxic to pets.

Anthurium andraeanum is an evergreen epiphyte native to the Andean rainforests of Colombia and Ecuador, growing in warm, shady, humid understory at roughly 600-2,650 m elevation.

All parts contain insoluble calcium oxalate crystals; per the ASPCA it is toxic to dogs, cats and horses, causing oral irritation, pain and swelling of the mouth, drooling, vomiting and difficulty swallowing if chewed.

Cold limit: USDA 11-12 (indoor-only) · RHS H1b (18-27°C)

Sources: aspca.org, plants.ces.ncsu.edu, en.wikipedia.org

What anthurium's hardiness rating actually means

Anthurium is not cold hardy. It is a tropical houseplant that dies if it is left out through frost — there is no zone where it overwinters outdoors in a UK or cold-US climate. Its RHS rating of H1b means: Sub-tropical — a normal warm home is fine, but it cannot go outside in a cool season. On the US scale that maps to USDA 11-12 (indoor-only) — the zones where it can be left outdoors year-round.

New to these scales? The USDA hardiness zone map explained covers how the zone numbers work, and you can find your own zone with the zone finder.

Minimum temperature — and what happens below it

Minimum survivable temperature is roughly about 10 °C (sustained cold below this is damaging). Anthurium has no frost tolerance at all — it is an indoor plant in any climate with a real winter.

Concretely, for anthurium as it gets too cold:

Below about about 10 °C, growth stalls and the leaves start to show cold stress — dark, water-soaked, or yellowing patches.
A single light frost blackens the foliage; a hard freeze kills the whole plant, roots included, and it does not recover.
Even a cold, draughty windowsill or an unheated porch in winter can be enough to damage it permanently.

Can anthurium go outside or overwinter — and where?

It can holiday outdoors in summer once nights are reliably above 10 °C, in shade or dappled light, hardened off gradually.
Bring it back indoors well before the first autumn frost — do not wait for a frost warning, move it when nights drop toward 10-12 °C.
It will never overwinter outside in a temperate climate; the indoors is its winter home, full stop.

Work back from your local frost dates with the frost-date calculator: the last spring frost and first autumn frost are what really decide when anthurium can be outside. US growers can check USDA zones; UK growers should use the RHS hardiness ratings, which match the H1b figure above.

Anthurium hardiness — frequently asked questions

Is anthurium cold hardy?

Anthurium is not cold hardy. It is a tropical houseplant that dies if it is left out through frost — there is no zone where it overwinters outdoors in a UK or cold-US climate. Indoor-only in almost every home. Anthurium can only live outside year-round in genuinely frost-free climates (roughly USDA 11-12 (indoor-only)); everywhere else it is a houseplant that summers out at most.

What is the minimum temperature anthurium can survive?

Minimum survivable temperature is roughly about 10 °C (sustained cold below this is damaging). Anthurium has no frost tolerance at all — it is an indoor plant in any climate with a real winter.

What hardiness zone is anthurium?

Anthurium is rated USDA 11-12 (indoor-only) and RHS H1b — Sub-tropical — a normal warm home is fine, but it cannot go outside in a cool season.

Can anthurium survive winter outside?

It can holiday outdoors in summer once nights are reliably above 10 °C, in shade or dappled light, hardened off gradually. Bring it back indoors well before the first autumn frost — do not wait for a frost warning, move it when nights drop toward 10-12 °C. It will never overwinter outside in a temperate climate; the indoors is its winter home, full stop.

What happens to anthurium below its minimum temperature?

Below about about 10 °C, growth stalls and the leaves start to show cold stress — dark, water-soaked, or yellowing patches. A single light frost blackens the foliage; a hard freeze kills the whole plant, roots included, and it does not recover. Even a cold, draughty windowsill or an unheated porch in winter can be enough to damage it permanently.